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Chapter 1- Sociology and Social Problems LEARNING OBJECTIVES Investigating Sociology and Social Problems: My Story 1.1 Describe how working-class young adults are currently experiencing their lives. 1.2 Define what constitutes a social problem. A. Javier Treviño I took my first sociology course as a high school senior, 1.3 Explain the sociological imagination. and I knew I had found my calling. Although no one in my family had ever gone to college, I took both sociol- 1.4 Discuss how sociological research can ogy courses offered at the local community college in be used to study social problems. Laredo, Texas, one of which was about social problems. 1.5 Explain the three main sociological My appetite whetted, I transferred to a state universi- perspectives of structural ty to get a B.A. degree in sociology. After graduating functionalism, conflict theory, and completing a year of substitute teaching at my for- and symbolic interactionism. mer high school, I decided to get a master’s degree in 1.6 Evaluate how each of the three theoretical applied sociology, with an emphasis in social planning. Thinking this would be the perspectives can be applied to improve end of my academic journey, I planned to work as a probation officer, a marriage our understanding of social problems. counselor, or even a sociology teacher at a community college. But I soon realized I 1.7 Discuss the role of social policy needed to know more about theory to gain a better understanding of the nature and in managing social problems. causes of social problems. I enrolled in the Ph.D. sociology program at Boston Col- lege, concentrating on crime, deviance, and social control. I was fortunate to study 1.8 Explore the role of specialized and work with the preeminent criminologist Richard Quinney, who opened my eyes theories in sociology. to a critical approach to the problem of crime. Since then I have looked at variousdistribute 1.9 Identify ways in which service issues—crime, deviance, legal matters—theoretically. or sociology can make a difference. What do you think? Questions About Sociology and Socialpost, Problems From the General Social Survey 1. How scientific is sociology? 3. Are people helpful or looking 5. Can people be trusted? out for themselves? Scientific Yes copy, Helpful Not scientific No Looking out for themselves 2. People need not overly Turn to the end of the worry about others.not chapter to view the results for the total Agree 4. People are treated with respect. population. Agree Disagree Do Disagree Neither agree nor disagree SOURCE: National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. Chapter 1: Sociology and Social Problems 1 Copyright ©2019 by SAGE Publications, Inc. This work may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without express written permission of the publisher. What is the social problem in the scenario above? Let’s see. SETTLING FOR LESS Due to their difficult situation, these young people expe- rience a whole range of feelings: confusion, bitterness, regret, disappointment, betrayal, hope. In their interviews with Silva 1.1 Describe how working-class young adults about their individual life experiences, they largely blame are currently experiencing their lives. themselves for their inadequate education, unexpected lay- offs, and failed relationships. They believe they are respon- sible for their own fates. They feel they can’t trust social Jalen is a 24-year-old, single black man who works the institutions—any set of persons cooperating together for the baseball season as a night-time security guard at a purpose of organizing stable patterns of human activity— local stadium. He is living in the basement of his aunt such as the labor market, education, marriage, and govern- and uncle’s house. After graduating high school, with ment to help them attain a sense of dignity and well-being. no clear plans for what to do next, Jalen impulsively But let’s look at the larger picture and consider these joined the Marine Corps. After 5 years of service, young adults not on a case-by-case basis but as a genera- which included three tours of duty in Afghanistan, he tional cohort—a group of individuals of similar age within was honorably discharged. That was a year ago. Since a population who share a particular experience. Now we then, his attempts to go to college and find a stable see that in 2014, 32% of the nation’s 18- to 34-year-olds— job have been thwarted again and again. the so-called millennial generation—were living with their parents (Fry, 2016a), compared to 20% of those in the Wanting a career in firefighting, Jalen took the civil same age group in 1960. They were also delaying marriage service exam. He made the city’s hiring list and or not marrying at all. Consider that in the early 1960s the enrolled at the fire academy. However, on the second median age at first marriage was 20 for women and 22 for day of training Jalen tested positive for marijuana men. By 2016 it had increaseddistribute to almost 28 for women and and was expelled. Although he does not consider 30 for men (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). himself “book smart,” he knows a college degree will Now, you may say that being single and living with parents is an unfortunateor or undesirable situation for get him a good job, and, because he is a veteran, the those twentysomethings who would rather be married G.I. Bill will pay for his schooling. He recently enrolled and on their own, but these circumstances are not social in a local community college, but 2 weeks into the problems. Fair enough. But let’s also look at a situation in semester, he still doesn’t have his books because he which many of the young people Silva interviewed found has not yet received his G.I. Bill benefits check, which post,themselves, and that most of us would agree generally is he needs to buy them. To make matters worse, he regarded as a social problem: unemployment (the subject owes $18,000 in credit card debt and has no way to of Chapter 10). And let’s consider unemployment on the pay it off. He is now tentatively considering going basis of demographic factors, or social characteristics of a back to the Marine Corps. population—in particular race, age, and gender. When we look at race (the subject of Chapter 3), we Jalen is one of 100 young working-class men find that in 2016, black men like Jalen had the highest and women whom sociologist Jennifer M.copy, Silva unemployment rate of any racial/ethnic group, 9.1%. interviewed for her book Coming Up Short (2013). Compare this to white men, who had a 4.4% unem- Silva found that these young people’s coming-of-age ployment rate (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017c). experiences—with education, work, relationships— As for age, we know there is plenty of discrimination have not measured up to theirnot expectations. Although against older persons in the labor market (as we will see they continue to hold tight to the American Dream of in Chapter 6), but we also know that in 2016, 8.4% of people around Jalen’s age, 20–24, were unemployed, realizing upward social mobility through hard work and well-paying jobs,Do they have achieved less than their parents were able to and feel permanently stuck Social institutions: Any set of persons, such as a family, in an extended adolescence. All the milestones that economy, government, or religion, cooperating for the had previously marked adulthood in U.S. society— purpose of organizing stable patterns of human activity. owning a home, getting married, having children, Cohort: Within a population, a group of individuals of similar finding stable employment—remain hopelessly out of age who share a particular experience. reach for these working-class young people. Demographic factors: Social characteristics of a population, in particular those of race, age, and gender. 2 Part I: The Sociological Study of Social Problems Copyright ©2019 by SAGE Publications, Inc. This work may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without express written permission of the publisher. compared to 4.2% of people 25–54 years of age (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017d). Concerning gender (the subject of Chapter 4), we know that in 2015, women LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty LOUISA working full-time received 81 cents for every dollar earned by male workers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016b). But what are we to make of all these statistics? For the moment, simply this: An awful lot of U.S. adults—tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions—are in the same predicament as those young men and women, like Jalen, whom Silva interviewed. And though they may have felt alone and isolated, these young people were not the only ones experiencing such circumstances. In other words, unemployment is not only a matter of these young people’s personal troubles; it is, in fact, a collective problem. Dimitris Voutsinos, a Greek sound technician, drinks cof- Another important issue to consider briefly now, to fee at his home in Athens. Dimitris was fired from a radio station and has been working since then mainly in call which we will be paying greater attention in the rest of centers. He and his unemployed wife rely on his disabled this textbook, is that some groups of people experience mother’s pension of 750 euros. The unemployment rate in social conditions—like unemployment and its related Greece remains the highest in the European Union, standing issues of discrimination in hiring and wage earning—at at 20.6% in August 2017.
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